I watched Salman Khan's TED Talk about the Khan Academy/flipped classrooms. I know Bill Gates is a big supporter of this (I believe he just gave 15 million dollars to the Khan Academy). The video lectures remind me of pencasts, which I find highly valuable. I completely agree with Mr. Khan about the value of video instruction -- being able to review, repeat, pace, use flexibly and in your own room, etc. I see it as a great supplement, but not, as Bill Gates says, THE future of education (I see it as one part of the future of education).

Also, throughout the talk, Khan compares the Academy to "traditional" classrooms. There are many ways to improve upon the traditional classroom, including, but not limited to, using video and flipped lessons.

I've read some debates on the appropriate length of a flipped classroom video mostly saying that 15 minutes are just too long, and I agree. I'm thinking of under 5 minute shorter films. What do you think?